The present invention relates to a method of producing a component, particularly a body component for a vehicle, or of a component composite consisting of several components, with the steps of forming a metal plate in a forming tool, particularly in a deep-drawing die, and producing a reference marking at a predefined location of the metal plate.
A method of this type is known from DE 10 2008 056 971 B3. Component connections, which are known from two German Patent Applications DE 10 2010 028 323.1 and DE 2010 040 547.7 (not prior art applications) are related with respect to the method of producing a component that is an object of the present patent application.
The relevant prior art also includes DE 10 2009 049 602 B3, DE 10 2008 038 747 A1, DE 10 2009 041 161 A1, DE 10 2010 028 322 A1, DE 10 2007 044 635 A1, DE 10 2004 046 584 A1, DE 33 02 177 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,539, U.S. 2003/0090682 A1, EP 1772199 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,623, DE 197 45 728 A1, DE 696 32 309 T2 as well as DE 10 2007 061 803 B3.
The above-mentioned DE 10 2009 049 602 B3 describes a vehicle body construction method for the detachable prefixing of two components to be firmly connected with one another, of which at least one of the two components is a vehicle body part of a vehicle body to be manufactured. A sphere acting as an “interlocking element” is welded onto the first of the two components. By way of an “interlocking element”, which is provided in the second component and may be designed as a hole that interacts with the sphere, the two components are fitted together or clamped together. In this case, the sphere is inserted into the hole and is engaged there. Subsequently, the two components “prefixed” in this manner can be permanently connected with one another, for example, by welding. The “achievable joining precision” very decisively depends on the precision with which the two interacting “interlocking elements” are produced or placed.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method of producing a component that is suitable for a highly precise and simple connection with at least one additional component or for a highly precise and simple prefixing on another component, in which case the method should particularly be usable in the large-scale production of vehicle bodies.
This and other objects are achieved by a method of producing a component, particularly a body component for a vehicle, or of a component composite consisting of several components, with the steps of forming a metal plate in a forming tool, particularly in a deep-drawing die, and producing a reference marking at a predefined location of the metal plate. The formed metal plate is roughly positioned by a positioning device such that the reference marking is situated in a predefined space area. The position of the reference marking is identified by a position recognition device, particularly via a camera system, the position recognition device generating position data corresponding to the position of the reference marking. A first fixing element is positioned at the location of the reference marking on the basis of the position data by way of an electronically controlled positioning device. The first fixing element is connected with the formed metal plate, particularly by welding the first fixing element to the formed metal plate, by a welding device.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.